Alternative Measure Sees More People Living in Poverty

There were 46.2 million people living in poverty in America last year. Unless there were 49.7 million.

Earlier this fall, the Census Bureau released its annual look at poverty in the U.S. According to that report, there were 46.2 million people in 2011 living below the poverty line of about $23,000 for a family of four. The official poverty rate was 15.0%.

But on Wednesday, the Census put out another report showing that the official figures leave out some 3.5 million people whom many experts argue should properly be counted as “poor.” If those people were included, the poverty rate would be 16.1%.

The difference comes down to definitions. The government’s official definition of poverty dates back to the 1960s, when economist Mollie Orshansky drew the poverty line at three times the cost of a minimal diet. That figure, updated for inflation, has remained more or less unchanged ever since.

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